Directed by:
W. S. Van DykeCinematography:
Oliver T. MarshCast:
Clark Gable, Jeanette MacDonald, Spencer Tracy, Jack Holt, Jessie Ralph, Ted Healy, Shirley Ross, Margaret Irving, Harold Huber, Edgar Kennedy, Al Shean (more)Plots(1)
Mary Blake arrives at Blackie Norton's Paradise gambling hall and beer garden looking for work as a singer. Blackie embarrasses her by asking to see her legs, but does hire her. She faints from hunger. Nob Hill Socialite Jack Burley and Maestro Baldini of the Tivoli Opera House see her singing and offer her a chance to do opera, but Blackie has her under a two-year contract which she sorrowfully stands by. Later, when he makes up posters featuring Mary in tights, she does leave for the Tivoli. Blackie gets an injunction against Burley, but knocks out the process server when he hears Mary's performance as Marguerite in "Faust". She asks her to marry him and she agrees to go back to the Paradise as his kind of singer, but Blackie's childhood chum Father Tim intervenes. After Blackie slugs the priest, Mary leaves. She is soon the star of the Tivoli and Blackie's place is closed down. She sings a rousing "San Francisco" on behalf of the Paradise at the annual "Chicken Ball" and wins the $10,000 prize which Blackie throws to the floor. As she storms out of the hall a terrible rumble betokens the famous San Francisco earthquake. Buildings collapse, streets split wide open, the city burns, the army dynamites whole sections of town. After staggering around in a stupor Blackie finds Father Tim and the two of them find Mary at a Salvation Army camp. Backed by hundreds of others, they look out over the ruins which are gradually replaced by the shining new city with a reprise of the title song. (official distributor synopsis)
(more)Reviews (1)
MGM's important big-screen studio brought together the disparate Gable/MacDonald duo, who would not become perennials for years to come. However, as a standalone project, it's a film worth watching. We follow a short period of time from New Year's Eve 1905 to the fateful April 18, 1906, when San Francisco was leveled by a devastating earthquake. On the 30th anniversary of the tragedy, which is considered one of the worst natural disasters in U.S. history (claiming 3,000 lives), it was only fitting to make a respectful disaster drama. The supplementary theme is, of course, a strong love drama, so that we develop a relationship with the characters who are about to experience the disaster. The story of selfish and unrequited love is graced by several great operatic performances by MacDonald in Gounod's "Faust" and Verdi's "La Traviata." The invisible cooperation between D.W. Griffith and Erich von Stroheim, who did not make it into the credits, is downright interesting. The copy of the film available today is not the original, but is an edited film from 1948.
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